Turing Award Winner Richard Stearns Remembered as a Guiding Light at UAlbany
ALBANY, N.Y. (Sept. 10, 2026) — Richard Stearns’ accomplishments and recognition in computer science were extraordinary, establishing him as a pioneer who helped introduce the concept of computational complexity.
You may not have known that, however, if you were a student of his at the University at Albany, where he taught from 1978 to 2000 — including seven years as chair of the Department of Computer Science (now part of the University’s College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering).
Why? Because Stearns was quiet, unassuming and humble, even as he and Juris Hartmanis earned the top prize in their field — the Association for Computing Machinery’s A.M. Turing Award for their seminal paper, “On the Computational Complexity of Algorithms” — in 1993.
Indeed, beyond his brilliance as a theorist, Stearns, who died Aug. 29 at the age of 90, is remembered as a kind and generous mentor, collaborator and friend by former students and colleagues. And those relationships endured long after he retired as distinguished professor emeritus 26 years ago.
“That he was brilliant is for all to see. But he was also very humble, honest and caring,” said Madhav Marathe, who earned a PhD in computer science at UAlbany in 1994 and now is a distinguished professor of biocomplexity and professor of computer science at the University of Virginia. “Dick was a mentor, a guiding light, a dear friend and a well-wisher.”
Theoretically forceful
As computer science chair from 1982 to 1989, Stearns attracted a cadre of professors who shared his passion for research, including Daniel Rosenkrantz, Harry Hunt III, S.S. Ravi, Lenore Mullin, Deepak Kapur and Paliath Narendran, who joined in 1988 and remains in the department today.
As colleagues, they shared insights and published papers that advanced the understanding of their discipline in all its complexities.
“Stearns, Rosenkrantz and Hunt were the reasons I came to Albany. I wanted to be mentored by the best and all three were and are the best,” said Mullin, who taught at UAlbany from 1995 until 2012, when she became professor emeritus.
“Stearns was a quiet but theoretically forceful person,” she added. “All four of us would meet regularly to work on my theory — a mathematics of arrays. I wanted to be just like them: respected for my mind and new theory.”
In an upcoming book from ACM, “Computational Complexity: The Work of Juris Hartmanis and Richard E. Stearns,” Narendran described Stearns as a “voice of stability and wisdom” who was a “stalwart in every way.” In an email, he added that “Stearns was somewhat taciturn, but it was obvious that he cared — for you, for the department he helped build and for his profession.”
Lasting lessons
Time and again, Stearns — a big-picture thinker who held both a PhD and bachelor’s in mathematics and spent 17 years in the General Electric Research Laboratory before arriving at UAlbany — stressed to peers and students alike that proofs alone were not enough. Stories held the key to understanding.
Thomas O’Connell, who earned a PhD in computer science at UAlbany in 2000, learned this key lesson as a graduate student under Stearns and still applies it as an associate professor at Skidmore College.
“Once after I had presented a proof, Dick said, ‘I don’t understand your story.’ I stood there somewhat perplexed, thinking, ‘I just presented a proof I spent weeks working out. Why is he talking about stories? That was a mathematical proof!’ He went on: ‘After seeing your proof, I should understand this problem in a way that I didn’t before. Your proof doesn’t tell me a story that gives me that understanding,’” recalled O’Connell, in the ACM book, which is due to be published next year.
“I have spent much of my teaching career thinking about that conversation. I am always conscious of the story I am trying to tell with a course, with a lecture, with a homework assignment, with an exam and when I present a mathematical proof,” O’Connell added. “There is probably no single event in my career that has more impact on my success as a teacher.”
Marathe is equally grateful to have studied under Stearns and his team, which forged a lasting bond that’s both personal and professional.
“I have been a faculty member now since about 1998, and my time with Dick, Dan, Ravi and Harry has continued to guide my conduct,” he said. “It is hard to imagine but I have worked with Dick for 38 years. Ravi has worked with him for 43-plus years and Dan has worked with him for over 50 years! We have written over 50 papers together and we continued to meet very regularly until his last day. He continued to be our teacher.”
That, in itself, is a legacy that transcends awards — even the highest recognition in computer science.